British Columbia’s wine industry was waiting for the province to do something to fight back against Alberta’s boycott of the province’s wines, and Monday it did by announcing it will formally dispute the measure under a national free-trade agreement.

Bruce Ralston, Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology, said Monday that B.C. is formally challenging Alberta under provisions of the Canada Free Trade Agreement dispute settlement process to stand up for B.C. jobs.

“I figured there would be some sort of feedback, some sort of challenge,” said Jason Ocenas, manager at Township 7, which has wineries in Langley and Penticton.

B.C. wine is a big presence in B.C. tourism and as part of the province’s agricultural brand, Ocenas said.

“For whatever government not to do something would show ‘hey, we’re going to let wineries just be collateral damage in our disagreement with (Alberta),” Ocenas said.

The trade dispute erupted Feb. 6 when Alberta Premier Rachel Notley launched the boycott on B.C. wine sales in its liquor stores in retaliation for B.C.’s proposal to restrict the expansion of bitumen shipments through B.C., which would directly threaten Kinder Morgan’s $7.4 billion Trans Mountain Expansion project. Notley said that would cost Alberta $1.5 billion per year.

Monday, B.C.’s industry indicated it was grateful for the challenge, but remains wary of the time such a dispute process might take, according to a statement from B.C. Wine Institute CEO Miles Prodan.

“As far as we can tell, (a dispute) can take anywhere from 18 months to 24 months,” Prodan said, which is too long for the industry to endure the boycott.

“Every little bit helps, but I’m not sure that’s going to get us to where we need to be as quickly as we need to,” Prodan said, but the industry is still hopeful for a speedier reversal of the boycott by the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission.

Despite Notley’s threats to ramp up the trade dispute if there’s no action from B.C. on the pipeline issue, Ralston said he is “confident we have the strong possibility of a resolution.”

“The reason for doing it is that there’s a violation of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (by Alberta), an important agreement signed by all provinces and territories,” Ralston said in a scrum with reporters at the Legislature. “And we’re standing up for the B.C. wine industry, B.C. business and B.C. jobs.”

Wine is a $2.8-billion-per-year business for B.C. that supports 12,000 jobs at 929 vineyards and 350 licensed wineries, according to provincial statistics.

And B.C.’s wine industry says the retail value of the sector in Alberta is $160 million and approximately 30 per cent of wine sold in Alberta is produced or bottled in B.C.

Ralston said B.C. chose the CFTA to dispute Alberta’s actions, rather than the NewWest Partnership, a trade agreement of the four Western provinces, because Alberta’s boycott raises issues of a national interest “that should be considered by every jurisdiction in the federation.”

The CFTA dispute resolution process also carries a stiffer ultimate penalty — a maximum $10 million penalty, versus the NewWest Partnership’s $5 million in the event it is determined a party did violate the agreement.

Under the CFTA dispute-resolution process, parties have 120 days to try to resolve their differences through consultation after which a independent arbitration panel is established to adjudicate the dispute.

Alberta Trade Minister Deron Bilous said Monday in a statement that Alberta will “defend our actions vigorously,” characterizing the boycott as a “reasonable response to an unreasonable attack on the Canadian economy.”

B.C. is within its legal rights to launch the action, said Jock Finlayson, executive vice-president and chief policy officer at the Business Council of B.C., but “it’s not surprising or particularly provocative.”

“It’s not as if (the challenge) is going to resolve the issue or have a next step immediately,” Finlayson said.

According to the text of the CFTA, it can take an additional month for an arbitration panel to be selected before a hearing even takes place.

In the meantime, Township 7’s Ocenas said it is too soon to tell how big a bite the boycott is taking out of their business, but is hopeful some of it will be offset by people rallying around the industry vowing to buy more B.C. wine.

B.C.’s wine industry is made up of a lot of small businesses, Ocenas said, “farmers who make a product and have to be able to sell it.”

“Those are the people that I don’t think Notley was trying to hurt, but that’s the collateral damage of it,” Ocenas said.

Likewise, restaurants and liquor stores on the Alberta side that rely on selling B.C. wine will also be squeezed.

When my assistant said there was a call from the White House, I picked up, said 'Hello' and started to ask if this was a prank

This Week's Flyers

Comments

Postmedia is pleased to bring you a new commenting experience. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. Visit our community guidelines for more information.